Trompe le monde - a bright spot in a dark world
by Ebastia
Summary: S4 -E16 My view on what happened in between scenes. How Joan went into labour. I'm not a native English speaker so I apologize for any language mistakes.


S4E16 - Trompe Le Monde -

Although he had fallen asleep, I could not bring myself to leave Arthur. I was lying on his chest; hearing his heartbeat reassured me. My back started to hurt and the baby was kicking like crazy so I stood up and walked to the chair in the corner of the room as a nurse entered the room to check on Arthur. She looked at me as I was rubbing my belly.

"How far along are you?" she asked.

"About 8 months. My due date is the 17th." I replied, placing my hands behind my back to massage the lower part.

"Mmmm," she hummed with a look of disbelieve on her face.

She would have elaborated if it weren't for my phone that started ringing. I picked it up quickly because I didn't want to wake Arthur.

"Joan, it's Calder. I realize you have been through a lot but the DCI assembled a meeting in order to create a plan to bring down Henry. I believe your expertise would be of great value … that is if you are up to it."

I was quite for a few seconds; wavering.

"Joan?"

"I'm still here Calder. I'll be there in 15 minutes. DCS Conference room?"

"Yes! See you there." Calder replied with a sigh of relieve.

I gently kissed my husband on the forehead and walked out. At the nurses' station, I left a message saying I quickly went home to take care of our other children and that I would be back as soon as possible. Arthur would understand.

As I exited the elevator and walked up to the conference room, I noticed my lower back pain again. I decided the first thing I needed after this meeting was over, was a hot bath to relieve my back.

I chose not to knock on the door and just entered the room.

"Joan!"

All looked surprised but Eric Braithwaite's face was pure horror.

"Yes," Calder replied "I thought Joan could help shed a light on Henry's actions, so I called her in. Do you disagree?"

"No, no, no, … Of course not!  
Given what's transpired, are you sure you want to be here?" he asked me.

"Given what's transpired, I'm sure I NEED to be here."

The tension between us was tangible for all in the room, as I continued to look Eric in the face with my most intimidating look and eyes shooting fire.

"I'm just going over with state how problematic it will be getting Henry out of Hong Kong." Calder continued.

Melany jumped at the opportunity to go past the awkward moment between Eric and me and replied:

"Try impossible! This is Edward Snowden times a 100."

"Henry Wilcox needs to be brought back here for justice." I said.

Eric immediately interpreted my comment as a personal attack and jumped in.

"Rest assure Joan, we are on this! You won't need to worry much longer of being in harm's way."

"Everyone in this building puts themselves in harm's way when they sign up for this job."

"You have my word, justice will be served Joan. Please know that!"

"I hope so." I replied even though I did not believe a word Eric was saying. He however went on with the meeting;

"Now if everyone will open their folders, …"

As the discussion went on my back started to hurt really bad. I tried to change into a different position several times but it didn't help. On top of that the baby started kicking again, só hard that even Calder noticed my belly moving. He tossed me a wide eyed look and whispered:

"You ok?"

I smiled silently and nodded my head. Calder turned his attention back to the meeting and I started rubbing my belly again. This was going to be a feisty boy! As I shifted on my chair, trying to manoeuvre myself into a more comfortable position, a sharp pain sliced my left hand side. Calder sensed my body cramping up and he grabbed my hand below the table.

"Eric, we have been circling the same issues for a while now. Maybe it is time to take a break."

Braithwaite welcomed Calder's suggestion way to eager and nearly jumped up from his chair. While he was running through the door, he instructed everybody to take 30 minutes off. One by one, everyone was leaving the conference room but the muted cramp restrained me from getting up. As the pain slowly vanished I noticed Calder standing by the door.

"Are you súre you are ok Joan?"

"I'm fine."

"I'm not an expert on pregnant ladies, but it doesn't seem that way." Calder uttered with a genuine look of concern.

"Well," I admitted, "It has been a long day. Stressful. I guess the baby is feeling it too."

"Or maybe the time has come to go on that well-earned maternity leave." Calder suggested.

"That's probably true, but it wouldn't be much of a leave with my husband in the hospital and Henry still at large. Besides, Annie an Auggie need me."

Calder stared at me with a deep look of both respect and concern.

"Then for now, I suggest a nice hot beverage and a breath of fresh air. Want to join me?"

I smiled and nodded affirmatively. As I stood up, another sharp pain caused me to cramp up. I uttered a small sigh but luckily Calder was already in the hallway and so I could recompose myself before leaving the conference room. The pain was bearable but clearly present and as we walked up to the coffee cart, it slowly faded away. Calder insisted on buying me a cup of tea and told me to go an sit outside on the terrace. I actually was glad I had a moment to myself and so I didn't argue and walked through the terrace doors. I was used to stressful situations but I worried recent events were taking their toll on the baby. I had never felt so much anxiety and I worried that the stress would induce labour. Then again, the pain was not thát bad. Similar to what I had experienced during the last month as Braxton Hicks. Honestly, no, maybe a bit worse but surely not the real deal. I just needed to relax and try not to stress so much.

Suddenly Calder came running through the door?

"Joan! There has been an attack! I just got off the phone with Auggie. Apparently a tack-team invaded the Lexington building in Hong Kong!"

"Braithwaite!" I exclamated.

"We believe so, yes."

"Annie?"

"Everything was shot to pieces but Henry and his team got away. They took Annie as leverage."

I jumped up, immediately regretting it because it induced another cramp.

"God damn it!" I cursed.

Luckily Calder mistook it for a rebuke towards Eric.

"Let's go and find out," I said walking past Calder and heading towards the elevator. I managed to hide the sharp pain I was feeling in my stomach area but in the elevator I started sweating and Calder noticed I was struggling. He took my hand, held it and said everything would be alright. By the time we reached the 7th floor, the pain was gone.

"Braithwaite better be ready to do some talking!" Calder said as we walked up to Eric's office.

"This wasn't about justice, this was about him covering his own ass." I clarified.

"He failed at both."

"Let me talk to him, I can get him to come clean if we don't overwhelm."

We approached Eric's secretary and I announced we were here to see Eric. But Calder's patience had run out and he stampeded towards the door.  
The secretary started yelling "What's going on, what's going on," and ran after Calder in an effort to stop him. But she came too late.  
Calder opened the door yelling "Braithwaite if you think you can … god damn it!"  
I was 3th in line, after Eric's secretary to see Eric had hanged himself in the office. Calder went silent as did the secretary.

"I'll alert the DCI." I said, turned around and walked out of Arthur's old office.'

In the elevator as the next even stronger cramp took my body in its control, it hit me I had been in labour ever since I had left Arthur's bed side.

"Shit!" I uttered to myself and because I was all alone in there, I started puffing as I learned at Lamaze. When the doors opened, the contraction wasn't over yet so I stepped into the hallway to the nearest chair and sat on it until the worsted was over. This was it, the baby was coming! I had to inform the DCI and contact Auggie before my water broke. O god! What if it broke in the DCI's office … I stood up and walked up to his door. I still had a few minutes before the next contraction came. O god! … I had no idea how far apart they were because I hadn't started timing them.

I knocked on the door and entered.

"Joan, my God! How are you?"the DCI said unable to hide the surprise in his voice.

"Fine. But we have a bit of a situation at the DCS."

The DCI frowned but kept quiet, so I continued and brought him up to speed with recent events.

"Mmmm, this case keeps on getting worse." He sighed.

While in thoughts he stared at me suddenly realizing I was still standing up.

"Please, have a seat. Forgive me, you surprised me...on more than 1 level I might add."

All I could think about was how much time I had left until my next contraction. I wanted to get out of his office as soon as possible without being rude.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Time is of the essence now."

"Of course. Well, it seems we need a new DCS to handle this crisis. And since you are here…"

I was flattered because of his restored trust in me but I had to decline and I had to tell him why.

"Michael, I would be honored. But now's not the time. My contractions started about the same time I stepped into the meeting. I didn't realize it at first, but I'm definitely going into labour. I was a bit distracted by current matters at hand so I'm not quite shure how far apart the contractions are, but they are getting more frequent and worse. I appreciate the offer and I value your trust in me, but I need to go to the hospital as soon as possible. I'm shure the other management members are more than capable of resolving the Hong Kong debacle. Besides, they have Calder."

The DCS's face was in shock so I turned around and walked through the door into the corridor. Michael called out to me and I turned my head to see his head around the corner of his door.

"Good luck Joan! Best news I heard all year!" he yelled with 1 thumb up.

I smiled, but kept my professional pose and stepped into the elevator.

This baby had something with elevators because the minute the doors closed, I felt the next contraction. Luckily I was on my way to my office on the lowest floor and by the time I reached it, the contraction was over. This was no pick nick. The pain was worse but the breathing technique helped. Lamaze was going to pay off. I grabbed my coat and purse and phoned the hospital to inform them I was coming in and asked them if they would inform Arthur. Because the hospital wasn't that far and grabbing a taxi at this hour would probably take me longer, I decided to walk. In the meanwhile I called Auggie.

"Hello."

"Auggie, what's the status on Annie?"

"Mission not complete. Annie's still after the target."

"Ohhh, damn it!"

"I'll let you know if something changes."

"All right. You may wane loop Calder in on the progress. I'm going to be a little tight up."

"Are you ok?"

"I'm alright. Ithink I may be having this baby though."

"That's great news. Don't worry Annie will find a way."

"I have no doubt."

I finished the conversation just in time because the next contraction was already there and this time my water broke as I was puffing at the reception desk at the hospital. A nurse brought me a wheel chair and offered to ride me up to the maternity ward. An offer I was glad to accept because the pain changed into a more deeper level. As we came out of the elevator, I saw Arthur! I had never been so glad to see him in all my life. Calder was right; everything was going to be alright.


End file.
